Ohio Film Group & CCAD partner to grow Columbus film industry

Kitty McConnell

Wednesday

May 6, 2015 at 12:01 AMMay 6, 2015 at 4:39 PM

Post-production studio coming to CCAD MindMarket, new film scholarships announced

The Ohio Film Group is building a 7,000 square-foot film production, visual effects and animation studio on the campus of the Columbus College of Art & Design at 380 E. Broad St. The Ohio Film Group also announced a $25,000 scholarship fund for CCAD film and animation students at a press conference this morning at the CCAD MindMarket.

The facility is the first step towards cultivating the creative talent pool needed to sustain film production activity in central Ohio, said OFG execs. A team of experienced east and west coast industry transplants will launch the studio, but OFG's goal is to have a home-grown second generation of film pros trained at CCAD and Ohio State.

The studio will focus on TV, film and high-end commercial production. CCAD board chair Jim Kunk (right) praised the employment potential for the Columbus creative sector. "This is about economic development," Kunk said.

Michelle Mills, City Council president pro-tem and chair of the economic and education committees, said the studio is the sort of public-private partnership necessary to foster the local film industry's development and keep creatives in central Ohio.

Said CCAD provost Kevin Conlon: "The ultimate goal is to retain the talent that we're preparing here...(to) drive economic development. We're confident our relationship with OFG will create real world experience that makes that a reality."